Hi-Lo Doubles, Travolta Tragedy, Books and Cars.

I was thrown for a bit of a loop yesterday when I was told at the tournament that I couldn't use my 128 average from the end of last season and had to use my 153 average from November. All kinds of valid reasons. However, I was somewhat annoyed at being told this 5 minutes before the tournament started so I guess it didn't help my bowling - my excuse anyway. I bowled two not very good games but the third game was pretty good. However, my partner bowled well for the first two games so we didn't have any reason to hang our heads and ended up with 96 pins over average. The winners were well in the 200s for their poa, so we were not even close. Enjoyed ourselves though. Matt and my partner's husband ended up bowling as well to fill in for people who didn't turn up. Their scores were not counted or anything, but it meant they didn't have to just sit and watch. I don't understand people who just don't turn up. There may have been others in their league who would have enjoyed taking part, but these people just throw away the opportunity without thought. Very sad news on the TV this morning, the Travolta family have just lost their 16 yr old son Jett who hit his head in the bath and subsequently died whilst they were on holiday in the Bahamas. Read an article here about the incident on Friday. One of the most tragic things that can happen is to lose a child. I read an article this weekend about dealing with reactions to the heavy snow conditions and current financial crisis by reading stories about people in worse conditions i.e. the siege of Stalingrad during the second world war. Funny, to me, I prefer to read happy stories not tales of people in worse situations than myself. Currently I am reading my first, but certainly not my last, Jennifer Fallon story. Its called The Immortal Prince and is part of her newest Tide Lords series. I can't wait to get the rest of them although I don't think they are available in North America yet. I just finished the second book in the Winds of the Forelands tetralogy by David B. Coe, Seeds of Betrayal, which was very good too. I have ordered the next in the series from the library so should get it quite soon. We had car problems this weekend. Specifically yesterday, we thought we wouldn't be able to get to the tournament as the car wouldn't start. Then when we left the bowling alley it wouldn't start again. We had a new starter motor a few months ago because we were having problems, but it didn't fix it so we need to go back and make a noise about it. The car goes totally dead for a while and after a number of tries, it will eventually start. Weird business altogether. Here is another recipe from my original Weight Watchers cookbook which we have made many times over the years and always enjoyed. Fish Creams Serves 4 8 oz cooked smoked haddock (or any other smoked fish, can also use canned salmon or tuna) 1/4 pt. water juice of 1/2 a lemon salt freshly ground black pepper 8 oz. cottage cheese 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce few drops Tabasco sauce Paprika pepper Poach the haddock until tender in a pan with the water, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Drain the fish and discard any bones and skin and mash the fish with a fork to form a coarse texture. Add the cottage cheese, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce, mix well and adjust seasoning. Place in individual ramekin dishes and chill in the fridge. To serve, sprinkle with paprika and place on hot dry toast (1 oz. per person). Have a great day.

Weekend Weather and Books I Read

What a weekend, weatherwise, first we had a lot of rain, then thick fog followed by gale force winds. Trees were bending almost double. The winds did a lot of damage throughout Southern Ontario and I think in the Northern States too. A lot of trees down and a lot of people without power. It sounded almost like hurricane force winds. They sure were howling around our building, made me cold just listening to them. The winds found all the tiny cracks in the windows and blew the curtains around. Brrrr. However, today is sunny and there is almost no snow left except where it was piled after being shovelled. The result being we just "hunkered" down and read or watched TV and didn't do much of anything at all. I got through a couple more books, one being The Twisted Citadel by Sara Douglass which I finished last night. I thought it was the final book in the current "set" (Dark Glass Mountain) but it turned out I was wrong. The first was The Serpent Bride which I found fairly hard going, however, this book I raced through and enjoyed much better. It turns out there is at least one more book to be published, some time next year. I shall have to remember to look out for it. The other book I read was Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott, her first novel in the Crossroads Series. Trouble is, it was written in 2006 and there are supposed to be 7 books in the series. At this rate, I may not be around for the remainder. I really prefer to come across a book which is new to me, but where the series is all but completed. This applies to another series, Winds of the Forelands, I am reading, I mentioned the first one a week or two ago which was called Rules of Ascension and now have book two which is Seeds of Betrayal. This is one of the series recently recommended to me by Glenda Larke of Tropic Temper (see link this page). It seems I not only enjoy Glenda's books, but also the books Glenda herself likes to read. No league bowling today although we did think of going along anyway, see how we feel later. At least Friday's league is running. I need to practice as I have a tournament on Sunday morning. No Canadian Diabetes volunteering either, they are closed for a week. Going to be a bit of a boring week especially as we are not doing anything for New Year. I was checking my vegetarian cookbook for something different to serve as a vegetable and came across a recipe which I haven't yet made, but plan to do so as soon as I can buy some bell peppers. In fact the other night I suddenly thought of braised celery which we enjoy, so served that with the remains of our turkey. I did cook the bones up with some veg and made a very good soup into which I added a can of lentils and we had that for supper last night - it was yummy. Meanwhile: South-Western Bean Salad The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook My comment: This recipe calls for dried beans, however, I would certainly use cans of beans rather than mess with soaking beans for hours first. Do use fresh coriander if you can, it tastes so much better. Serves 4-6 1 cup dried black beans 1 cup white cannelini (navy) beans 1 medium red onion 1 medium red (bell, capsicum) pepper 8 2/3 oz canned corn, drained 3 tbs chopped fresh coriander 1 clove garlic crushed 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp French mustard 2 tbs red wine vinegar 1/4 cup olive oil salt and pepper If you are using dried beans: soak in separate bowls in cold water overnight. Drain, place in separate pans, cover with water. Bring both pans to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 mins or until tender. Drain, rinse and allow to cool. Alternatively, use a couple of cans of prepared beans, drained and rinsed. Chop the onion and red pepper. Place in a bowl and add the beans, corn and coriander. Stir until well combined. Combine the garlic, cumin, mustard and vinegar in a small jug: gradually whisk in the oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Pour over the bean mixture and toss lightly to combine. This salad can be made up to a day in advance and is a great dish to serve at a barbecue or take on a picnic as it carries well. Have a great day.

Books, Snow and Lights, Dr. Oz,

Thanks to the recommendation of Glenda Larke of Tropic Temper (see link this page) I have a number of new authors to try out. The first of these is David B. Coe and I have just finished his first novel, Rules of Ascension, in the Winds of the Forelands series. I can highly recommend it to lovers of fantasy. An excellent book and I will look forward to reading some more in the series. This is not a book where you can forecast what is going to happen. People you don't think will die, do so anyway. Nothing predictable, lots of magic and battles. I don't have the technique of being a critic, but I hope you will try it anyway. I have four more books to read recommended by Glenda and if they are all as good as this one, I will be enjoying them very much. I'm dreaming of a green Christmas. Last night it rained and most of our snow has disappeared. It may surprise you to know we do get a green Christmas now and again; I know most people think of Canada as being buried in snow all winter long. Its a pity because the decorated houses look so much prettier in the snow and it doesn't look nearly as good without it. I miss decorating our home, we did try lighting the balcony, but the problem is we have to run an extension cord through the sliding door which means letting the cold air in. I cannot understand why they didn't put power outlets on the balconies. Not just for Christmas lights you understand, but for other stuff during the year, not least of which would be an electric barbecue. However, they didn't, so we don't bother any more. We used to really go to town in North Carolina - although we rarely got Christmas snow (or snow at any time) there, we also did a lot of decorating when we lived in Canada before. There are people who really spend a lot of money and time on lights, but they look so pretty and it brightens everything up and makes it look Christmassy (OK, so I invent words). Funny story on Good Morning America, they were interviewing two celebrity doctors, Dr. Oz and Dr. Rosen who were bing interviewed about a new book. Apparently last Friday Dr. Oz was travelling home and came across a car accident and went to help. One of the passengers, obviously not too badly hurt, recognised Dr. Oz (who was busy helping a passenger who was injured) and phoned home to tell his wife the famous Dr. was there. In the middle of a car accident!! His wife asks why Dr. Oz is there and he tells her he is in an accident. They were laughing about it now, but I bet his wife was scared at the time. The passenger publicly thanked Dr. Oz for his help. I talked about our party last Wednesday, I didn't tell you how successful two of the recipes were that I had posted here, one was the Devilled Eggs (published 11/14/08) with wasabi in and the other was the Lamb and Feta Cigars (published 11/20/08). The eggs were served with cucumber - I was disappointed with that part of the recipe. Didn't look a bit like the picture. Next time I don't think I will bother. The Cigars were really good though and very popular. Of course you have to like lamb first. If you do, I really recommend them. They are not particularly difficult to make either. Both those recipes came from Food and Drink published by the LCBO who always have great recipes as well as advice on all kinds of alcoholic beverages. So here is another recipe from the latest edition which I shall be trying fairly soon. Almond Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Apricot and Brie Brie creates a luxurious creamy filling that keeps the chicken moist and requires no sauce. Leaving the wing bone on offers a restaurant look, but it is not necessary. (My comment: I wouldn't bother) Serves 4 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts with wing bone still attached 2 oz brie cheese, rind removed and sliced 4 dried apricots, finely chopped 1/2 cup sliced almonds, divided 1 tsp minced fresh rosemary 1 tsp coarse salt 1 tsp freshly cracked pepper 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs 1 egg, lighly beaten 1 Tbs butter 1 Tbs olive oil Preheat oven to 375°F. With knife held horizontally and starting at the thinner side, cut each chicken breast in half, but not all the way through, open like a book. Arrange brie slices over chicken leaving a 1/2 inch border uncovered. Sprinkle with apricots, 1/4 cup of the almonds, rosemary, salt and pepper; close breast, pressing around the edges to seal. In a shallow dish, combine breadcrumbs and remaining almonds. Dip the chickent in the egg. Dredge in crumb mixture, pressing lightly to coat completely. In a large ovenproof skillet, melt butter and oil over medium heat. Cook the chicken until golden, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to the oven and bake until cooked. about 15 to 20 minutes. Have a great day.